Develop a Planting Plan

Locate Plants to Keep
Refer back to your map of existing vegetation. Plan to retain native plants that have proven attractive according to observations and records. Locate these plants on a fresh copy of your base map.

Outline Planting Areas
Review the bubble diagrams you drew to designate spaces for human and wildlife requirements in the landscape. On your map, lightly draw an outline of all planting areas that were identified by these requirements. Be willing to compromise some human needs to meet wildlife needs, and vice versa.

Select appropriate native plants considering ultimate size and aesthetics of the plant and conditions of the site. As you continue from the canopy to the lower vertical layers in the habitat, you may wish to design each layer on a separate clear overlay. Although you want the entire design to be integrated, this technique will make the planting plan easier to read.

Things to Avoid – Often, as homeowners and gardeners attempt to take actions that benefit wildlife, they instead create conditions that are detrimental to the animals or to themselves. There are several mistakes frequently made during landscape design, leading to problems once the native plants are in place.